Something Has To Change...

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” -Lewis Carroll

“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” -Edmund Burk

Apparently, anyone who has an ego the size of Montana becomes a professional wrestler. Or a politician- Me

“Jesus wept.” John 11:35

More and more, that scripture is on my mind. “Jesus wept.” It’s so simple. Short and to the point. One noun, one verb. I think back to December 19, 1971 (yes, I looked it up, my memory isn’t that good!), and the initial airing of The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. It was the pilot for what would become the television series, The Waltons. It was the depression, and the Walton kids were hoping for a Christmas gift. All of the community kids were. All you had to do was recite a scripture. This was one that was used. And it has been with me ever since. 1971. Things were different then.

In 1971, I was 10. I didn’t know much. I was fighting with mom and dad to stay up and watch Johnny Carson. I knew he was funny. I watched the news. Walter Cronkite. I watched 60 Minutes, the original news magazine. Back then, there wasn’t so much “slanting” in the news. Or outright lies. Or newscasters who would look you right in the camera and lie to you. Newscasters were smarter then. Before we had what Don Henley termed “talking heads”, we had educated journalists who could actually write. And spell. And understood grammar. AND, could combine them all at once. No internet. No spell check. They didn’t seem to take sides. And back then, the FCC had teeth. Enough “teeth” that George Carlin wrote “The Seven Words You Can’t Say on TV”. Some of which you can now say on TV. The FCC needs dentures. I’m not sure why that agency still exists. But our “guvment” has a few agencies I don’t understand. Like the IRS. And Homeland Security. And the EPA. All of which are building arsenals. Which I don’t understand.

Lately I’ve been watching The West Wing. If you don’t know, it’s a political show that ran from 1999 until May of 2006. Oddly enough, while it is a serious show about serious issues, there is a lot of comedy included. It features Martin Sheen as President Bartlett. Characters were played by Rob Lowe, Bradley Whitford, John Spencer, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney and Stockard Channing. That’s most of the main cast. Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda would make appearances. As would Christian Slater. The creator was Aaron Sorkin. Broadway plays, he’s done a few, but he also gets credit for the films A Few Good Men, The American President, Charlie Wilson's War, The Social Network, Moneyball, and Steve Jobs.

It’s a great show to watch right now. Not for nostalgia, but because of how relevant it is. All of the hot political topics featured on the show are the same political hot topics we see today. I don’t know how many people there are who really are in charge of “running the world”. But I’m not sure it is as many as we think. And I'm not sure how many, if any, we can trust. Below is some of the rhetoric and narrative that we hear. And remember, these are folks we elected. Willingly.

“When I’m elected, I will make this my first executive order…” This is what candidates say when they are in a debate or speaking to a group of wallets. It doesn’t matter the question or topic, it will ALWAYS be on the top of the list, the very first thing.

“What’s in it for me?” It matters not whether it be Democrat or Republican. Independent or Libertarian. It’s the important question of the day. If I do this, what do I get?

“I’ve reversed my position because I’ve not been educated on the subject.” I like this one. It says, “I can be ignorant and still be an authority on a subject.” Scary. Topics to apply this to include gay marriage, gun control and the Keystone Pipeline. Look at how the political conversation keeps changing on those topics. And, there are others.

“We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it...away from the fog of the controversy.” Okay. That’s a freebie. Don’t say it didn’t happen, there’s a video. In case you thought that politicians read bills before they voted, don’t kid yourself. I would bet you that as of today, 98% of our elected officials haven’t read the Affordable Care Act. Why should they? They aren't using it. But, these are the folks we voted for.

Don't move to California. Or if you live there, move out. According to Dianne Feinstein, who was Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said “it’s legal to hunt humans with 15-round, 30-round, even 150-round magazines.” Roll videotape...

Or this one: "The Senators feel the best course of action is to remove all weapons from law enforcement and private citizens so no one else gets hurt," said a Senate communications intern. "When the gunman realizes that nobody else is armed, he will lay down his weapons and turn himself in ... that's just human nature." Is this one real? No. Dianne Feinstein didn't say that. But she gets credit

The “good ole boy” system of cronyism has got to go. We need term limits. In Congress. And on the Supreme Court. And someone needs to hold class and teach these elected officials about the checks and balances system. What it is. How it works. That the Supreme Court does not create law. They interpret. And then there’s that old document, the Constitution. It should be law that elected officials can’t take their oath of office until they can pass a test on the Constitution. And the Bill of Rights. I want to believe that we still have a few good office holders (notice I didn’t say politicians) that really want to do the right thing. But what I see, overall, is a group of fully grown boys (no sexism intended) who are more worried about lining their pockets than taking care of constituents. Seems they would rather vote party lines than conscience, and impress their colleagues rather than do what is best for our country. They act like crybabies when they don't get their way. They point fingers. Call each other names. And what bothers me most is that you don’t seem to have to go to Washington, D.C. to see this. Just look at what your local government is doing and see what you think.

Remember the "Congress Sit-In" just a few weeks ago. The Democrats were made because the Republicans shot down (no pun intended) two of their gun control bills. So they decided not to play and called time out. Never mind that the Democrats had just shot down two of the Republican gun control bills. But the Democrats took control of the Senate Floor and brought work to a standstill. Funny, we found out after the fact that 26 of those Demo Senators pack heat of their own. Two things to note. First, this is not the '60s. We don't need a repeat of Kent State. And second, the last time a group took over a federal building (in Oregon), someone wound up dead.

Jesus wept. Maybe it’s time to change that to Jesus weeps. I grew up in a place and time where we said the Pledge of Allegiance every day at the beginning of school. Almost all businesses were closed on Sunday. Families did things together. The local newspaper included Pee Wee, Minor League and Little League box scores. We knew our neighbors. Every school sporting event, well, pretty much every public school event, started with a prayer and the National Anthem, but at the minimum, the prayer. I remember the “Manger” at the Catholic Church. Our Christmas program included bible scripture. And...no one died or had an allergic reaction. We had teachers who wanted to teach because they cared, not because it meant summers off. God bless our teachers. They have an impossible job. They aren’t teaching subjects. They are teaching for a test. With over-sized classes (our daughter had 39 in her class one year), no authority to actually discipline, and in a day and age where students aren’t held back if they fail, but moved along. Kinda like a “participation” trophy. Except the next teacher gets the trophy, and they’re already behind the eight ball. And they practice medicine. They are responsible for dispensing prescribed medication to their students.

I mentioned teachers. My dad was a principal. I have great appreciation for these overworked and underpaid folks. Some do more than you think. You’ll find them selling tickets to the football game, working concession stands. My dad announced football games in the stadium. And sometimes drove a school bus. Guessing he didn’t have a CDL. Do you need one to drive a school bus? My freshman year of high school I had a teacher named Bill Ellis. I hated that man. Really hated that man. But he stood at the front of the room with that pack of Salems in his short sleeved shirt pocket and regaled us with stories of his daughter, Samantha, and made us go to the board and diagram sentences and conjugate whatever it is that you conjugate. And he helped put together our annual Yearbook, the Arrowhead. And I hated him until I started my sophomore year and realized how much I had learned without knowing it. Politicians may start out wanting to make a difference, but I’m not sure how long that lasts. Mr. Ellis did want to make a difference, and that lasted until he retired.

Jesus wept. Jesus weeps. Jesus will weep. Thank you Mr. Ellis. If only we could elect people like you.